A Cats Nine Lives
by Flauvres
Summary: Light Yagami is given an irresistible chance to start over, to relive and repent. However, Death Gods would never strike a deal without a price to pay, and Light finds this to be more than he bargained for- He is thrown back into Japan... and this time? He is nothing other than a cat. Watch Light and his struggles as he survives without opposable thumbs.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Everything was numb.

It was dark, where he was. As a matter of fact, there was nothing. He could say nothing, see nothing, hear nothing, yet he felt something. Existence, perhaps? Emotion? There was something in the emptiness, but even then, he knew, this place was a no-man's land. Time didn't exist here, and neither did space. What was the difference between mere seconds and many years?

What was this? Who was he? Was he even a thing, a being?

Or was he simply a thought?

Something indescribable happened. It shook his being, and he trembled in unknowing. He felt himself hurt, and suddenly everything constricted in him, in a point, a center, and he couldn't do anything, because a thought could only take in the damage done, and could not retaliate in anyway. A thought could not cry, could not scream, and could not even die, because a thought did not physically exist.

And that's all he was. A thought. No identity, no purpose, no life. He was a thought. All he could do was feel hurt by this indescribable event, and he sensed that he should have been able to tell what was going on, but everything was foreign to him.

_It's been far too long for you, hasn't it._

He hurt even more.

_Well? You can speak, you know._

But that wasn't true, because he was just a thought, he didn't exist… And as if this… this thing could see his thought, it shook him again—

_You aren't a thought. You're a human._

He screamed. The sound made him hurt even more, so he screamed louder. And then he silenced himself, in shock, because he realized a mere thought didn't scream, didn't even _know_ what a scream was.

_Well, at least you can sort of talk now. If screaming counts._

And as if he was regaining a… a memory, he realized what the indescribable event was.

Someone was speaking to him. And then it was like a domino effect, because then he realized that he wasn't hurt, it was his brain.

He was having a headache.

_Wow! Would you look at that. You are now successfully an existential human being who can communicate with others! _

His head hurt even more, and he realized the sound was hurting his ears, and he realized he hadn't heard sounds for hundreds of years, because he _was_ just a _thought_, and thoughts weren't living, breathing, screaming like he was. Thoughts weren't uncomfortable, thoughts weren't afraid, but here he was, terrified and in pain because someone was simply speaking to him and it bewildered him that something so simple could hurt his head so badly. He was a thought before, but now he was like a thought with control, or a thought with a body…

… like a human being. Now, he existed, now, he had an identity. He had something. It was inexplicable, having something to yourself.

_Do you want to know your name?_

He blinked. A name? What was that? He thought hard, focusing on the word, 'name'. What did a name mean to him?

He thought harder, and then muttered, under his own breath (he was breathing now, like a living being, like a human—),

"...an identity?"

There was a deafening silence, and he tried to feel what it was like to have an identity. He decided it would be _exciting._

"...Yes!" He yelled, feeling a strange relief, yet a strange fear at the same time. And his head hurt so he put his, his hands (he had hands, wow! He thought) and gripped at his head, only to be shocked because then he felt his hair, and his head hurt all over again at the sensation—

_Light. Your name is Light._

Light.

Light, Light, Light.

"Light…" He tried. He dragged out the word, his name, slowly. "My name is Light…" He was pleased. And then he felt something strange, and realized it was his muscles in his face stretching, and he tried to control it, but he couldn't stop, but it was ok. His head stopped pounding, and he felt his own hands across his face. Light was smiling.

_Do you want to know your memories?_

And Light immediately looked around through the blackness, and asked, "Who is this?" And then he thought about the offer.

Did he want to know his memories?

_Do you want to know your purpose?_

And Light thought even more, because those offers were very tempting. What was a purpose? Did he want to know his purpose?

_Do you want to know yourself?_

And Light realized, he did not know anything about himself. He only knew his own name. At the time, a few seconds ago, his own name was enough, no, more than enough, and then he realized there was so much more he did not know.

"…Yes."

The pain that assaulted his head was nothing like before, and Light could not scream out his suffering.

* * *

"Can you repeat that again?" Light asked. The King of Death looked at him peculiarly, and said, "I've watched you, along with a few other death gods, and I know that you are quite a bit too smart to need people to say things twice to you." The King chuckled at the thought.

"I never figured you could pull off killing a Death God yourself. We were quite amused by your show." Light stared blankly at him, because to Light, it wasn't a show, it was a mission, a _goal_…

"They have decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. I'll be honest, you'd make a damn good Death God, but I can't always have what I want, now can I… Either way, They want to see if you can become a 'good person' without the Death Note in your hands. Who knows what They're thinking, but I'm curious to see how this turns out." Light's brows furrowed in thought. The term 'good person' was alien to him, which said quite a bit about how well this was going to turn out.

"So, what do you mean?" Light muttered.

"I can turn back the time. I can reverse the path the clock ticks. You can live again, in the same time you died, and in the same day you picked up the death note. You can repent."

"And how do you suppose I can do that?"

"Oh, it's pretty simple really. You just have to be an honest-to-God good soul. You have to prove yourself to Them. If you can do that while having all your memories of mass murdering intact, you'll be fine." The King chuckled. Light watched closely.

"Alright, so I just have to do good things for people."

"Yep."

"…What's the catch?" Light asked, suspiciously. Damn Death Gods always had a price for these things.

The King smiled maliciously, as though he had planned this himself. "Well, I wouldn't want to make it too easy for you…" "…Right." Light glared at him. This Death God was just like Ryuk, really. Were they any different? "It's just a small thing, you know…" The smile was growing into a very amused smirk. "Nothing to worry about." Light stared, annoyed and a bit confused. What was this guy planning?

"What is IT?" Light asked, frustrated. He stared head on, unafraid of whatever was going to come his way. He would be prepared for it. The King's smirks did no help in calming him down, however.

"Well, it's happening to you right now."

Light took a look at himself, and to his horror, he was quickly shrinking and growing fur on his arms and legs—

"I do wonder how you're going to do good things for the world as a cat."

Light screamed, and it came out as a kitten's hiss.

"Too bad no one can understand you now."

_Hiss!_

"Actually, Ryuk himself requested that he accompany you. He can understand you! He apparently did a good job of educating himself on the cat language. Impressive, huh?"

_Hiss!_


	2. L, Again

**Chapter 1**

"You know, it's pretty funny."

"—I mean, the irony of your situation. Did you know that the Egyptians loved and worshipped cats as god—"

"Yes, you imbecile, of course I know, do you think I'm an idiot?" Light yowled at him. It was pretty funny, how adorable Light now was when he was angry. Or when he was anything, for that matter. He just never stopped being adorable. To bystanders, it looked like a very cute stray cat mewling to nothing in particular.

This fact pissed Light off to no end. He had already given up burrowing his whiskered face in his hands, because the first hour he'd become a cat, he tried that, and he nearly scratched his own eyes out. The situation was pathetic. Schoolgirls would come and pet him in all his indignity, and little children would chase him around and poke him.

This was _harassment_. Possibly sexual.

How the hell was he to become a 'upstanding citizen' when he _wasn't even_ a god-damned citizen? Or respected, for that matter.

It was altogether disgusting. And he had only started three days ago.

But holy hell, time passes slowly when your only companion is a Death God who wants to eat apples _all the damned time._

At least Light wasn't an ugly cat. In fact, he was quite popular with the ladies. By ladies, he meant, girls who made squeaky noises and cooed at him in attempts to pet his head. Light was a Maine Coon Calico mix. His fur was many shades of brown and orange, just as his hair in a life long ago, and said fur was long and luscious, with an 'M' mark on his forehead, as any standard Maine Coon.

Regardless of his eloquent appearance, other cats seemed to know that he wasn't like them. They avoided him like the plague, as though they knew he was the biggest kind of trouble out there. Maybe they could see Ryuk, hovering over his shoulder all the time. Maybe they could look into his burning red eyes, and realize that such evil would only belong to a human.

"Light, can I have an apple?"

He hit his head against the wall. "Ryuk, shut the hell up."

"What, I just want an apple. What's wrong with apples? Light, you know how I get without my apples, I get withdrawal and I twist up and you've seen it before, it's pretty bad, I really think you should get me an apple—" "Ryuk, nobody asked for your opinion." "Well, it's not like anyone else can talk to me here. Only you, Light," Ryuk mocked him.

"If you think emphasizing my lack of communication is going to help you in any way, you are dead fucking _wrong._"

"Light, it's really not that hard. I've seen you do it before, you just walk up to a fruit stand, sniff at the apples, and the lady thinks you're so adorable and gives you one." Ryuk tried pouting, but he only ended up looking retarded. _As if he didn't already_, Light thought.

"Well, Ryuk, why don't you just get one?"

"Well, _Light_, I can't exactly _do_ that." Ryuk drawled, pronouncing each syllable slowly. "What if I get seen? That's against the rules, you know. Can't have people thinking ghosts walk among them..."

"Or Death Gods." He chuckled. Hyuk, Hyuk, Hyuk.

Light quietly whined, thinking back to the times when he wasn't a homeless cat, and when he could just buy a dozen apples and be done with it. Now he had to beg. Ryuk said it wasn't begging, he said he was just sniffing at something and people gave it to him, but to Light, this was some form of begging. It made him angry, just thinking about it. His IQ was probably a full _80 points_ over theirs, and yet to them, he was just _some measly little_ _cat_ who couldn't fend for itself.

Oh, look how the mighty have fallen.

Light snorted at Ryuk's uselessness and reluctantly went off to get an apple for him. He glided towards a shop owner, purred a bit, and pawed at a nice, plump, Fuji apple. The shop owner smiled, lightly bonked him on the nose, and set it on the floor for him.

Light swore that the IQ he was so proud of went down by a good 10 points.

* * *

"You should have a look at this." Watari quietly gave him a folder with a few files. "There's no official investigation yet, but it's a rather strange happening that a few officials are beginning to question." L looked at the folder, curious as to why Watari would give him a case that hadn't even become a _case_ yet. He took the folder from Watari's hands, with two fingers, and pinched it open. He carefully handled the files, and read through them.

"Hmm…"

"What do you think? The media has not become aware of it, but this can't be a mere coincidence."

L glanced over the files once more. A few countries had taken notice to this happening, and the word had gotten out within the military, law enforcers, politicians… Watari was right.

Quite a few infamous criminals, masterminds, were simply dying. Strangely enough, these people were dying of heart attacks. It was unbelievable. From the looks of it, it had started around 3 days ago. What in the world could cause this?

God?

No, that was ridiculous. God wouldn't have such a stupid ambition.

"This deserves a further looking into. However, there is no evidence to go by, only this killer's signature, and their motive. Nonetheless, we can't derive much from heart attacks." L muttered. He munched a cookie from his plate, and reviewed the data a few more times. He withdrew himself in thought, and stared at the files in front of him. The grip on his knees tightened. It didn't make sense.

Watari spoke up again. "We should consider speaking to ICPO when we have a set future plan. At the rate the murders are going, whoever is doing this will not stop until they've completed their goal."

L nibbled his thumb in thought. He considered the possibilities of what had happened to these criminals. His mind drew nothing. It was nothing short of a miracle. But it couldn't be.

"Right." He said, taking another cookie.

* * *

Light looked around. Here he was, NPA headquarters. He meowed with pride, at the fact that he could still remember where everything was. He could even go to his own house, but Light did not find the will to visit the family he ruined, regardless of the fact that he was part of it. While Light was very much a heartless man (cat), he couldn't bring himself to face his failures. Light wasn't a masochist.

"So, Ryuk. What did the Shinigami King mean anyway when he said I had to become a good person?" Light asked him. "Hell if I know. I don't know anything about good people. Considering I've been hanging around you." Ryuk laughed at his own joke. "Hyuk, Hyuk…" Light rolled his red catty eyes, and put off his question for later.

He jumped up on a brick wall, still a bit surprised at his own newfound abilities as a flexible and balanced calico cat. His tail flicked in pride, and he peeked into the windows. No good. There was nothing of interest on the first floor—only elevators and two informants. Light looked around, for a tree, a pole, anything. He spotted a nice, tall pine tree. It looked like he could at least get to the 4th floor. Next, Light looked for a few open windows.

Bingo.

Light closed his eyes, steeling himself for the climb. He may have had the agility to pull this off, but he didn't exactly have the same confident mentality as any other cat. He was human, after all. Sort of.

He opened his eyes again, and quickly ran towards the tree, jumping up the scratchy branches and through prickly leaves. He surprised himself, he did. Ryuk watched in wonder and fascination from ground level, as Light finally made it to the window sill.

"What are you trying to do here?" Ryuk questioned when he flew up. Light glanced at him, and quietly mewled, "Trying to be an upstanding citizen." By breaking and entering. Sort of. Light left it at that, and hopped into the building. Ryuk questioned no further, curious to see how this unraveled.

They snuck inside unnoticed, Ryuk did mostly because he was invisible, and Light was agile. Light searched the hall for any security cameras. There was one. He could easily hide in the shadows, however. Light quietly stepped through the halls, and looked through open doors. It took him a while, but he found a room with a few computers. Light snuck to the very back, well hidden by the desks, and with his nose, turned on the computer. It was roughly lunchtime. The detectives wouldn't be here for a while.

Adequate time for Light to see what was going on.

Light checked again for security cameras, and made sure the ones that were there couldn't see him. Ryuk watched in silence, for once.

Light looked at the screen. It required a password. He tried to remember what the passwords were when he was hacking into the data base to obtain information about the Kira Investigation. Light was an awfully slow typer when he only had two paws, but he would have to get used to it. Eventually, he made it in, and moved the mouse as best as he could with his paws, and clicked on a folder.

Light scanned through the files.

"Oh, are you trying to find out some criminals to hunt down in the name of justice?" Ryuk asked. Well, that was a cheesy way to put it. "Just keeping up to date. I might want to help them solve cases, considering I can't eliminate criminals as easily as I could before, and these dolts will never get anything done." Light immediately thought of Matsuda, and wondered how in the hell that _dumbass_ could ever be hired.

Light flipped through many disgusting rape cases, murders, and a bombing or two through the last year. It seemed that without Kira, the world simply could not go on. Light sighed in discontent, while Ryuk watched on in interest.

His eyes immediately caught on something peculiar.

'_Heart Attack Occurrences'_, read the title.

Light made a small snorting sound, and had a great sense of déjà vu. Heart Attacks?

Could it possibly mean…

No. This couldn't be the same thing, _could_ it?

No way.

But the Shinigami King said…

Wait a second.

"_Either way, They want to see if you can become a 'good person' without the Death Note in your hands."_

He never said anything about the Death Note _not_ existing on this plane of reality. He never said the Death Note wouldn't be brought to the human world again. In fact, he only said the Death Note wouldn't be in his hands. Light clicked the file. According to this, heart attacks had been going on for four to five days.

"_You can live again, in the same time you died, and in the same day you picked up the death note."_

Light realized he had been sent back here for roughly that same time period. Four to Five days ago. Light realized again, in increasing confusion, that whoever had picked up the Death Note had decided to kill criminals, just like him.

He felt a growl. Someone was trying to replace him.

This person had done so unknowingly, but he was angry anyway.

Light's anger faded, however, when he read through the whole file and saw that L was beginning to take action.

L had already spoken with ICPO. In fact, L was already suspecting Kira to be in Japan! Damn, he was so fast sometimes. Light remembered the 'Lind L. Tailor' trick that even _he_ had fallen for in the beginning. Suddenly, he found himself curious as to see how long this Kira could hold out against L.

Light's anger faded, and became intrigue. His tail flicked, in curiosity, and his red eyes were intense in focus.

Ryuk read along with him, and cackled in the background.

Hyuk, Hyuk, Hyuk.


	3. Caught?

**Author's Note**: I don't like writing AN's, but just wanted to thank people for giving such quick response to my story . For the record, I can't help but laugh whenever people give an inquisitive little review wondering who will be the new Kira. You'll see. And you should know, for that matter!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Light read through the reports one more time, and he closed the files. Light clicked through some more reports and cases until he felt he was satisfied. He still had other things to worry about now.

Light sat on the desk in thought. "Ryuk, neither you nor your _King _ever specified that there would still be a Death Note this time." Light muttered at him angrily. Ryuk stared at him as though it should have been obvious. He chuckled a bit at Light's misunderstanding. "What?" Light growled.

"Light, there is no 'this time'. This is the past, exactly as it is. The only difference is that the future is walking in it. You."

Light stared at Ryuk. He took a few moments to let the words thoroughly sink in.

His tail puffed in sudden horror.

"Ryuk…" he asked quietly. "Who has the notebook right now?" Light didn't actually want to know the answer to this question. He could only comprehend the danger that could come with it. Ryuk chuckled a bit, and said, "I don't know, Light. You're the genius."

"So you dropped the notebook again?" Light knew the answer to this, too, but he just wanted to hear it spoken. Ryuk said nothing. But Light knew that Ryuk had an ample amount of time before joining Light to drop the notebook in the human world once more.

Light grew increasingly frustrated when he could only find more questions in his conversations with Ryuk. He knew he would get nothing out of this. He also knew that Ryuk would not be able to answer anything, because Ryuk would be leaving soon. In fact, Ryuk had to leave around tonight. He knew where Ryuk was going, why he was going there, and where Ryuk would be for a long, long time.

He knew all of this, and he also started to know why the King had truly sent him down here, in the past, once more.

Light's plans changed dramatically.

* * *

"I'm serious, he was sitting there typing on the computer, and he was _reading_ about the Kira case." Some guy held Light up in a very uncomfortable way, as he told others of his story of finding a cat typing on a computer during the lunch break. "Hey, whose cat is this anyway?" Another detective asked. No one in the room said anything. People looked around, and others shrugged. "Never seen 'im in my life. The hell does he have to do with Kira anyway?"

"Well, hell, if this cat's working on the Kira case, then send him to the right department!" Another detective joked, and the whole room laughed. The same man who found him spoke again. "But this cat's pretty amazing, it got to the 4th floor without _anyone seeing_, and it hacked into a computer! This cat belongs in a book of world records!" Light sighed. "Well, maybe he belongs to you, yeah, Hachiro?" The others laughed again. "Ok, you've got to see this, check the security cameras or something!"

In the background, Ryuk was laughing so hard his sides hurt.

The detectives jokingly checked the cameras to entertain their friend, Hachiro, but they immediately stopped laughing when they saw that a cat had truly snuck in without anyone seeing, hacked into a computer, and read through all the files on their database.

What had really happened was that Light repeated everything he had done before except he had done it more obviously. These idiots would have let a cat hack into their system without even realizing it. Light sighed again, exasperated.

The detectives stopped speaking altogether, and they looked at each other in disbelief. They took a few minutes to stare at Light in a mixture of amazement and confusion. They silently decided that no one would speak of this irregularity again.

That is why they put Light in a box, and dumped him right in at the door step of the department currently investigating the Kira case.

Everything was going just as planned. For the most part.

* * *

There were already only a few members of the Kira investigation left, and this fact was rather disheartening. The case had only started a while ago, yet people were becoming so afraid. Kira had indeed killed many criminals within the last week. However, Matsuda was still a man of hope! He may have slightly agreed with what Kira was doing, but he still had much willpower in him and he was certain that with L's help, the NPA would catch Kira! (It was sort of the other way around, but that was besides the point)

It was this motivation that compelled Matsuda to open the suspicious moving box outside the office door with a post-it on it saying 'Probably guaranteed to help Kira investigation'. He poked the box a bit to the side. It shifted. He gasped a little, and furrowed his brows. What could possibly be in this moving box? Matsuda poked it again. It shifted some more. With as much patience as a child on Christmas day, Matsuda flipped the covers over and peered inside. Two eyes stared back.

He let out a yelp.

"What the hell?!" he said rather conspicuously, and two fluffy ears popped out from the covers. But it didn't stop at fluffy ears, no. In fact, it didn't even stop at the fluffy whiskers. Matsuda stared in surprise at the cat that had emerged from the cardboard box.

"Oh… ha-ha, it's just a cat. Whoops, sorry buddy. You've got some creepy red eyes though, thought you were something else…" The cat stared at him condescendingly. Its eyes looked like something out of a horror movie. Like a ghost. Like one of those grudge ghosts. Eugh.

Then Matsuda realized what was going on. "Wait, what? How are you going to help the investigation?" Matsuda was heavy with disappointment. He was expecting something cooler. He laughed a bit more. It must have been a silly prank.

The cat kept staring. Did he (or was the cat a she? Matsuda couldn't tell) want something? Matsuda held out his hand, about to pet the cat, only to have it move back a few paces. "Huh?" Matsuda stretched his hand out some more, only to have the cat hiss at him. It glared at something else momentarily, and turned its attention back to him. "I guess you don't really like getting pet, huh?" Matsuda noted. The cat nodded in agreement.

"Well, have you got a name somewhere? Like, I dunno, a collar or something…" he trailed off. The cat shook its head. "Ah, that's too bad! I guess I can name you!" Matsuda said with a smile. The cat shook its head 'no' fervently.

And then it hit Matsuda.

This cat could understand human speech.

* * *

"I'm serious; he was sitting there nodding back at me and everything! He was replying to everything I was saying!" Matsuda held Light up in a very uncomfortable way, as he told others of his story of finding a cat in a box that could somehow magically help him with the Kira case. Light had a serious case of Déjà vu, again.

"Matsuda… that is seriously not a credible story." Aizawa said. The small team looked at Matsuda. "No, I'm not joking, this cat is something else!" Matsuda said with desperation. Light looked around. This was the same team that was leading the Kira investigation in Light's past life. It seemed everything would tie together soon.

"Well, go hide the cat somewhere, don't need the chief to know that we brought a cat here during lunch break!"

Light froze up for a second. He realized, he would have to see his father soon. Maybe a few minutes. Maybe a few seconds. He knew this would happen, but now that it was so close, it scared Light to face it. "C'mon, guys! Believe me! This cat is _really_ smart!" Even Mogi, who sort of silently dealt with everything, was looking at him questioningly. "Well," Aizawa said with a sarcastic bite, "If he's so _smart_, prove it."

So Light did. He jumped out of Matsuda's grasp, walked towards the nearest computer, and nudged the mouse with his tail. The detectives watched in silence. The screen switched from its idle mode, and Light opened up a new notepad document. He was taking a great risk in doing this, but if he wanted to get to L the quickest way possible, it would be to do this.

_Hello, everyone._

Every detective in the room simultaneously gasped. "Oh my god…" Matsuda looked towards everyone, excitedly, "See? I told you!" He looked like a little kid who had just proven another kid wrong. Or won in a game.

"That's quite an impressive cat you have there, Matsuda." The chief said, as he walked towards his desk. Everyone turned towards him, except for Light. "Oh… uh, hey, chief!" Matsuda laughed nervously. No one had seen him come in. Matsuda tensed and started a trail of excuses."Yeah, this isn't my cat or anything, someone just left it here, you know, and on the post-it it said that the cat could help with our case! I mean, I didn't believe at first that a cat could help, it was sort of a joke, you know, I just didn't know…" Matsuda carried on ranting. None of the other team members joined in.

"We aren't so desperate that we need a cat for our case." Yagami-san joked. Light still hadn't turned around. "Yeah, ha-ha, don't mind me, just being silly ole' Matsuda again…" He rubbed his neck nervously while smiling to the ground. "It's fine. Though you shouldn't be getting so distracted easily!" Yagami scolded. He turned towards Light.

"Well, I suppose a cat will do." The chief smiled. He pet Light on his head. It vaguely reminded Light of when he was a kid and he got a perfect grade on a test.

Light couldn't bring himself to look at his father. It was a strange feeling, considering he had been so high and mighty before he died. Now he was a cat. Now it had become a long time ago that people had thought him to be god. Could he be feeling guilty? Light wouldn't know, because it was such an alien feeling that he couldn't comprehend ever having such a strange sensation.

"Do you think we should tell L about him?"

Everyone in the room blinked.

"Hahaha… maybe not."

"_Tell me about what?"_

Everyone in the room choked. The chief quickly shoved away Light, but he wasn't sure if L or Watari hadn't seen him. Light ducked under the desk with his tail puffed. L! He hadn't expected that. Even when Light was just an innocent cat, L still took to surprising him. "Oh, nothing L. Not important to the Kira case."

Someone coughed.

"_Alright."_ L sounded a bit skeptical. But when did he not?_ "Either ways…"_

Everything was silent. Light twitched his ear. What was going on?

The team stared intently at the screen. Was L typing out a message?

Then, everyone left the room together. Light didn't understand. Light peeked out from the gap under the desk. It was eerie, having only Watari, and technically L, in the room with him. He read the message quickly before ducking away into the quiet and shadows.

_Please keep what is about to happen a secret among the eight of us._

_I would like to meet the six of you who have my trust as soon as possible..._

L wanted to meet with the detectives? That was incredibly risky. After a few more minutes, the group came back up. There were only 5 people this time. Someone must have left.

There was more silence, and Light chanced another peek.

_I am now in a room in the Imperial Hotel. _

_Every few days, I will move to a different hotel in the Tokyo area._

_...If you are able to cooperate with me on these terms, please split into two teams and come to my room by midnight, that is by the year 2004, leaving at least a 30 minute interval between the two teams. Watari will hand you a memo with my room number. _

_I'll be waiting._

They were to meet at a hotel. Huh. L took quite a bit of precautions, even when showing people his face. Light would know a lot more of what happened on the other side of his war with L now that he was in this position.

There was more silence, and the laptop closed, and Watari left. The detectives were left in thought. Light took this as his time to remind them of his existence. He meowed. Everyone looked down at him, the other bizarre thing that had happened today. Light gave a tentative meow again.

The chief looked down at him, a bit focused, and a bit confused by Lights presence at the same time. He paused for a few seconds. "Do you want to join the case?" He joked. Light nodded very seriously. His tail flicked back and forth in waiting. The chief was taken aback by the fact that Light could answer him, but then he realized, if people could magically kill others somehow with heart attacks, cats quickly evolving to be as smart as humans shouldn't have been that bad of a surprise.

The other remaining detectives looked around questionably. "What do you think L will have to say about this cat?" No one dared to venture the answer to that question, because honestly, Light was such a strange anomaly, they couldn't be sure what could happen.

Light had a subtle realization that Ryuk was gone.

* * *

**Another Authors Note**: Some parts of the plot have been altered to fit my rather hectic timeline, but I hope you don't worry much because it won't drastically change the story. I just want to keep y'all interested. Guys, lets also take a moment to appreciate the sentence, _"His tail puffed in sudden horror."_


	4. The Cat and Its Owner

**Author's Note**: Argh, I'm going to make a habit out of this now. I'm sorry for uploading this chapter so slow(huge writers block for some reason, don't ask) but it's unpredictable when I feel like writing, which is usually midnight on weekdays, so I have no control over it. On the other hand, L is finally introduced! Yay!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"You're doing it."

"What?! Why me?" Matsuda stared in fear and uncertainty.

"Well, uh…" Aizawa didn't want to straight up say that if L disapproved of this cat, it could only be believable that Matsuda was the one with the dumbass idea. "You found it first." He sounded like a kindergartener, but Aizawa just didn't care. He wasn't going to shove a cat in L's face and say, 'Hey, check out this cat we found, it's pretty sweet and it can help solve the Kira case'. Mogi said nothing, and the Chief wanted nothing to do with this conversation. Ukita refused to take any sides on this as well.

Matsuda's shoulders sagged and he pouted, holding Light like he'd hold a baby he was going to throw in the air. Light meowed a bit, uncomfortable and severely annoyed. "Ah, L will surely see how smart you are, mister cat!"

* * *

They had gathered around in the hotel room. It was quite surprising to see who L really was. He looked as unbelievable as the cat did… who would have thought things so smart came in such strange packages? L's eyes were like coal, and he had bags under them of an equally dark color. He was currently perched up in his chair, looking at all the faces of his new team.

Matsuda wasn't quite sure what to do. He had unceremoniously shoved the clawing cat into his bag, and it must have been getting quite cramped in there. What could he do now? Just bring it out and smack L in the face with it, hoping L would think this cat was a great idea? The chances of that going well were so unlikely they were in the negatives.

Well, Matsuda supposed he could just shove the thought in the back of his mind, it wasn't like he actually had to _go with it_ and pull out the ca—

"I've been meaning to ask, Matsuda-san, but what is moving in your bag?"

Matsuda nearly choked on his own spit. The others looked at him suggestively. "O-oh, ha-ha, nothing, Ryuzaki-san, nothing at all," Worst lie ever told. L immediately caught onto the lie. L snatched the bag away with his claw-like fingers, and flipped over the lid. L's sense of personal space was seriously lacking, but that was probably due to the fact that he didn't exactly hang out with this many people at a time. L pulled out the moving object.

'Well,' Matsuda thought, bitterly, 'the cat's out of the bag…'

L held up the cat in the light. He stared for a good two minutes.

Light stared, taken aback by seeing L again, and then irritated because L was holding him like everyone else had been doing all day. Light gave him a rather human, grim, and withering look, condescending as usual. L stared back, though he just looked befuddled and as irritated as Light. "Matsuda-san, I'm aware you have a 'Bleeding Heart', but is it _necessary_ to bring stray cats around wherever you see fit?" L misinterpreted the situation. Matsuda's eye twitched a little. "Erm… no, that's not a stray cat,"

Honestly? It probably was. "It's… uh…" How could he say this without looking psychotic? He couldn't. The Chief sighed, rubbed his hand against his forehead, and spoke up in Matsuda's defense. "He's a cat." _No shit_, L thought in English to himself. "A very smart one." L looked up at him peculiarly. The other detectives were awkwardly silent. Why did they agree to do this again? Looking back on the idea, it was rather stupid.

"I'm afraid I don't catch your point." L looked at the cat in his hands. "He seems to be quite normal to me. Matsuda, are you sure you aren't mistaken—…" L stopped in his tracks when Light flicked his tail at L's cup of tea and sent it splattering to the floor. _Are you implying that I'm stupid?_ Light challenged with his eyes. L rose to the challenge.

"Either ways, Matsuda, it seems this cat is just as dumb as—"

L's cake hit the floor. L blinked, amused but rather peeved about getting his cake on the floor. He slowly put the cat down, and nibbled at his own thumb. The detectives stared on in silence and awe, because even without hearing the cat or L speak, it was like seeing two sorts of genius opposing each other.

L stared at the cat in front of him, silently wondering what the cat was trying to communicate to him. He took a small breath. "Hello, Neko-kun." L called at him. The cat looked up to him with an air of disdain, as if he were eating something particularly bitter. "Neko-kun is quite immature. Child-like, should I say so myself," L stopped when Light flipped over L's tray of sugar cubes. They were back to the flipping, were they? L took a dismissive glance at all the wasted food. Watari could easily get a better cake anyway.

"Neko-kun is a bit of a pompous brat, isn't he." Light narrowed his eyes dangerously. "But that's ok," L continued, a cute smile stretching on his lips. Light furrowed his fuzzy brows. "Because I am a pompous brat as well." L finished with a triumphant grin present on his face.

The group of detectives were relieved, L seemed to accept the cat in some unorthodox way, and the awkward feeling in the room left. Light was rather annoyed. He had forgotten how strange L was. Bah. As if he could ever forget. L, however, was really quite amused. He was amused and intrigued. A new member of the team had joined.

"Well, ok!" Matsuda was smiling as well. Light averted his attention to the group. "I guess, someone needs to take care of the cat—"

"I'll do it." L said with alarming speed and precision. Light quickly turned back to him. He stared, bewildered that L would take him so quickly. Was L so bored he was excited about a cat? Light's tail flicked back and forth, and he stared at L, brows furrowed, contemplating L's sudden decision to take him up. L stared back at him, still childishly smiling. "I do hope we get along, Neko-kun."

Light kept him under scrutiny.

* * *

"Neko-kun, who do you think is Kira?" L said very seriously, later that night (or early morning). Light looked at him, and looked at the files on his desk. L was looking through the files of the investigation team's families. More importantly, L was currently looking at Light's family.

L looked at Light, as if the cat's opinion truly mattered to him. Maybe L was at an impasse. Hah, but was L truly at such an impasse that he needed a cat to finalize his suspicions? As if a cat's opinion could suddenly make someone a Kira suspect.

Light stared at it for a few seconds, and his expression slowly turned from an irritated one to one that was forlorn, as he saw his own name. His ears drooped slightly, and his fears were confirmed. Light felt like a schizophrenic. It was like two sides of himself, fighting each other, except it was all real. On one side, was an idealist, a dreamer, and the other, the death of his dreams. Light knew nothing could alter the course of his doom if he let himself carry on like this.

He had to stop it all. He knew this was what the King wanted to happen. This was the real reason why Light was turned to a cat—It didn't have to be a cat specifically, but Light couldn't be returned to his original form. It would disrupt the past too greatly, having two Lights, just as much as the Death Note disrupted his future.

He had to save the lives he killed. And in the end, he had to save himself. How cheesy, he thought sarcastically.

Light trotted over to where L was sitting, and sniffed at the file with his own family. Light had to stop before he killed L, and his own father. Light looked up at L, a mission growing in his red eyes. He couldn't allow himself to win… and lose. L looked back, and stared at the name where Lights paws sat firmly.

"Interesting choice." It wasn't a choice, it was the truth. L had to trust him. "Are you sure about that?" Light glared with ferocity. He knew. The reality of it weighed in the pit of his stomach, and he stared head on, without making a noise, or shaking his head. He knew. L looked back at him, curious as to why Light was so sure.

"You look quite edgy, Neko-kun." L stared at him, and patted him on the head. "Would you like anything to eat? You've been up with me all night." L said surprisingly softly. He could get Watari to buy something. Cat food? Light growled a bit when L petted him, but then decided to just deal with it. He was too tired to do anything.

Light loosely remembered when L would say something akin to this when Light had been up for days on end with him, chained to the insomniac, with nothing but sheer will to power him. L would finally say, "Raito-kun, would you like a bath?" or "Raito-kun, you can take a nap if you want." And Light would quietly oblige, grateful that L still did care about him.

And when Light remembered this, he could only think of the memories he gained with L, and the memories he lost because he took those gained memories for granted.

Light closed his eyes, and let the calm flood him, the calm before the storm.

* * *

L quietly glanced over to the cat, who was diligently looking at some of the files L had out on the floor. It was rather surprising, to see a cat acting so human. The other detectives had long since left, and Watari had already given L a replacement to the cake, tea, and sugar cubes that the cat so eloquently flipped over. The whole night, he had been left to his own thoughts, and was currently sifting through the files of detectives and their families.

He had stopped at the Chiefs file. One name in particular caught his eye.

Light Yagami, 17, senior high school student, attractive, social, and had perfect test scores. L typed in the name quietly onto the computer, and saw that Light's scores were the best in all of Japan. It was rather fascinating. A genius, right in front of his eyes. Could this one be Kira?

He fit many categories; Idealistic, clever, and a student. Some people argued that due to the 23 daily killings, the idea that Kira was a student who worked by that schedule had holes in it. But, L figured if Kira could control what people do before they died, and possibly even _how_ they died, Kira could probably control when they died. The fact that hourly kills started immediately after L suspected Kira of being a student was no coincidence, either.

In fact, to L, it solidified it. From what L gathered in his interactions, Kira would react strongly when L was either criticizing him, or was on to something close to the truth. He looked at the picture of Light, a profile settling in his head, but still no evidence to point fingers.

L looked back at the cat, and as a joke, he had asked, eyes wide and a thumb at his lips, "Neko-kun, who do you think is Kira?" But somehow, as the cat looked towards him in silent acknowledgement, L knew that the cat could understand him, and L was still a bit shocked by it all. The cat glanced over the files, and L swore there was something far too human in its eyes, and it looked over Yagami-sans file and family. A few minutes were spent in complete silence, and the cat almost looked… hurt.

L could only contemplate what was going through the cats head, because even if the cat could somehow speak, L doubted he would get a straight answer. Then he wondered. What would the cat do if it could speak? Would it sound bright and happy all the time, or would it have a mournful, low voice? Would it whisper softly, or would it pronounce every word loudly? Would the cat speak only the truth, or always lie? L kept thinking, lost in his own maze of pondering until the cat made its way towards him, and sat, paws poised at the very name he so strongly suspected 5 minutes ago.

The cat looked hesitant, but firm. L glanced at it, and it looked back, sincerely. "Interesting choice…" he muttered to no one in particular. The odds that the cat would deduce the same things he would were very low. The odds of even a _human_ deducing the same things he would were low, so this was rather strange to him. "Are you sure about that?" L quietly asked. But L knew, now, in his mind, Light Yagami was to be focused on like the prime suspect of this case.

The cat was restless, yet tired. L didn't know why a cat of all things could be so complicated, but he didn't bother to sit around and deduce the reason behind this cat's extraordinary intelligence. Some questions were never meant to be answered anyway.

L felt a strange assurance that came with the cat's verdict. It was a raw feeling, one he felt before, like a Déjà vu. The certainty of Light Yagami being Kira was a welcome one, as though it were so obvious it was waving itself in L's face. L didn't know why he was so sure of condemning someone like that, but he could only chalk it up to a 'gut feeling'. L sighed, finally getting a bit tired himself. He had completely ceased sleeping ever since he started personally working on the Kira case, and while he did have bad sleeping habits, L knew the benefits of a small one hour nap or two.

He looked at the cat, who was lost in its own world, its own mind. L couldn't fathom what it could possibly be thinking. It was in deep thought, but what deep thought? What could a cat have to think about of so much importance? "You look quite edgy, Neko-kun." Edgy was a lie. The cat looked like it was stuck on a life-or-death decision. _Tuna or Salmon?_ Hahaha. Which reminded L, "Would you like anything to eat? You've been up with me all night."

The cat looked upon him calmly, and did not answer his question in any way, only making a small noise as L began to pet him. L assumed that was a no, though he would have to get some cat food later. Did Neko-kun like Friskies? Which also reminded L once more, that the cat would need a new name. 'Neko-kun' was rather vague... What name did a genius cat deserve?

L furrowed the skin where his brows would be, while entertaining some name ideas for the cat. He decided that he and the cat may have needed some sleep, so he reorganized all the files, shut off the computer, and lightly grabbed the cat up with him to a near-by, and rather comfy, chair. The cat looked as though it wanted to protest, but apparently, it just stopped caring so late in the night. L folded into a ball, though loosely as the cat stretched out onto his chest, yawning. L pet the cat until he fell asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note**: And we leave L unintentionally snuggling with Kira. If you guys couldn't already tell, I seem to like deja vu's. And guys (and girls), what do you think L should name Light? Feel free to leave some suggestions in your reviews, cause I wasn't planning to think up a name on my own anyway. (Lazy.)


	5. Counterpart

**Author's Note**: Epic writer's block. Either way, it was quite hard to pick my final name. But I did go with one! And good, because we get to see Light (the human) in this chapter! And it will cause mass confusion if I speak in 2 perspectives at once.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Light opened his eyes, seeing L first thing in the morning.

He glanced around, looking for a clock, and he found it at the back of the room. 2:14 PM. Damn, he'd slept through the whole morning and noon. But it seemed L had as well. Light was surprised. L hardly ever slept for 11 hours. That was half of his day spent sleeping right there. L must have been more tired than he thought… Light flicked his tail, as he stretched a bit, and he slid out of L's grasp. He meowed, nudging L's nose with his own.

"Mmph…" L sounded in his throat. Light meowed louder. "… 5 more… minutes." L slowly drawled out. He dozed off in sleep again. Light sighed heavily. _Wakey, Wakey,_ Light thought to himself. He pawed at L's cheek. L nudged and shifted to the side. Light was growing sorely irritated. He meowed louder, his tail smacking L's closed eyes. L made another sound, but drifted off again.

So logically, Light bit him square on the nose.

L's eyes instantly shot open, and he yelled while simultaneously falling off his chair. He gripped his nose in complete surprise. Then he looked at Light in annoyance when he felt blood coming from the bite marks. Light was proud of himself. He meowed with sheer arrogance and looked down at his own handiwork.

"Watari… I need a Band-Aid." L called out.

Light snorted.

Watari soon came over and looked at the damage done. He put a small Band-Aid on the tip of L's nose, and gave Light a stern look. Light frowned, or as much as he could as a cat. Watari was like L's grandfather or something. Or a babysitter. It would make sense. "Thank you," L muttered in English. He quickly added, ", and can I have a strawberry shortcake as well? I believe we have some leftovers…" Watari was dismissed.

Light looked intrigued. He figured L would know how to speak English, but not with such a… heavy British accent. Light meowed. L looked at him, and then shifted his head to the side. L asked, in English again, "Do you understand English, Cat?"

Light nodded, his tail still flicking. L blinked, in a bit of surprise. "I wonder where you learned English from…"

At school. Though, out of sheer dedication to his good grades, Light tutored himself at English just to master it. He watched English news, read English books, and even listened to English music. He spoke it fluently, and his accent wasn't even detectable. But Light didn't stop at English. He was so bored that he started picking up other popular languages.

Light in total knew 9 languages. He was fluent in English, French, Spanish, and obviously, Japanese. He also knew German, Russian, Cantonese and Mandarin very well (though he'd have to work some more on getting rid of his accent). Lastly, out of the pure fun he was having, Light educated himself in the dead language of Latin.

As you can see, Light had far too much time on his hands.

After a while, he was dedicated to learning all the languages just so he could communicate to the rest of the world once he became the God of it. His parents thought he was diligently studying for exams, when in truth; he was spending his time teaching himself several languages.

L asked him another question. "How many languages do you know?" He was truly curious of the answer to this question. Light looked at him, but did nothing. He didn't want to give L an accidental clue to who he truly was when L would eventually meet his human counterpart. L waited for a few more seconds, and realized Light wouldn't answer. He held his thumbs at his lips, pensive. Light stared at him, tail flicking.

"Do you want a name, Cat?"

L seemed very keen on speaking to Light in English for the rest of the day. Was this what he did with Watari when no one else was around? Light considered it for a moment. Did he want a name? Did it even matter? He meowed softly at L, not approving, but not disagreeing either.

"I think I'll call you Moon."

Light blinked at him, not understanding. L continued. "Or Tsuki, rather. It's how you spell Mister Light Yagami's name in Kanji." Light cocked his head to the side. "It's something I have a habit of doing…" L chuckled a bit. "I tend to take the names of criminals that I've caught and use them as an alias later. Ryuzaki isn't a name I came up with myself." Light nodded along, curiously. "Ryuzaki was a serial killer… he was also a… heir to my name." L struggled with phrasing how to say that.

Light meowed louder, wanting to know more. "Ah, well. Ryuzaki was an alias as well. His real name was Beyond Birthday." Light remembered that name. He had killed that man once he was Kira. "Beyond Birthday, or BB, was second in line to… to take my place, I suppose." As a detective? Light asked with his eyes. "As L. BB was second in line until the first one killed himself." L said bluntly, looking away.

Light was taken aback. Who were these heirs? They sounded crazier than L himself. "Either ways…" L said quietly, "I suppose we shouldn't be calling you Tsuki if we don't know if Mister Yagami is Kira or not. That would be quite a rude accusation." Light scoffed because he remembered how rude L had been when he accused Light every other minute. "Though I'm sure he wouldn't mind. You are quite a nice cat, when you aren't angry. Maybe he'd feel flattered…" L trailed off.

Light blinked at the compliment, and L smiled. "I suppose we should get started, though. I need to prepare things for the new team. Things like fake badges, belts… you know." L faded out, before getting up to his computer. Light trailed behind.

He wondered in the back of his mind why L was so comfortable with speaking to a cat like a human being.

* * *

It was quite fascinating watching himself. Tsuki stared at the screen projecting him and his family, while he sat with L and his father. "This is… This is the last thing I thought my son would be doing." The chief muttered, eyes wide. "He's 17. It's normal." L replied.

Light the human was currently looking through porno magazines like it was an everyday thing. Tsuki realized that if he wanted to make it look like a convincing 'everyday thing', he shouldn't have acted so neutral while seeing girls in bikinis. Tsuki couldn't help it. He didn't have any interest at all for those kinds of things, cat or human.

"However…" L paused. Both Tsuki and Yagami-san glanced towards him. "It seems like he's making a show of _'I was checking if anyone entered my room because I have these kinds of books stashed inside'_…" Tsuki would have cursed if he wasn't a cat. Was it that easy for L to see through him?

"Ryuzaki… is my son a suspect?" _Yes, dear lord yes_, Tsuki thought to himself. "Yes, he is, Yagami-san. Everyone in your household and Kitamura's is." _Bullshit_. Tsuki rolled his eyes at L's 'sort-of' attempts at reassurance. The human Light got up to get dinner. L called up Aizawa to ask if the Kitamuras were watching TV as the Yagami family was. Apparently, they were, and L told Watari to air the special bulletin message.

Tsuki watched the show unravel. _'Interpol to send 1,500 detectives from various countries to Japan to help solve Kira case.' _Just as Tsuki did once, Light instantly knew it was a trick. _"1,500 detectives? Wow…"_ Sayu said. Light replied to her, easily revealing that sending 1,500 detectives was a foolish thing to do and this was probably another of L's tricks.

L held a thumb to his lips. "Yagami-san…" The chief looked over. "Your son is very intelligent." When Tsuki heard that, he couldn't help but have his chest puff in pride. His tail flicked, pleased.

* * *

"Why do you insist on coming with me, Tsuki?" Tsuki meowed loudly. L grumbled a bit. "If you make a sound, we'll both get in trouble, you know?" Watari said nothing at the humorous scene taking place in front of him. Tsuki clawed at L's hands. "That's not going to persuade me to take you…" Tsuki meowed even louder. "Would a hoodie be sufficient in hiding him?" Watari finally spoke up.

"You're encouraging him?" L furrowed his nonexistent eyebrows. "Certainly no harm… this cat's been in here for a week. No one would look in your hood, I suppose." Watari smiled at him. "What's a cat to do when I'm taking some entrance exam that will undoubtedly take a few hours?" L looked at Light, who was still stubbornly clawing at him.

L sighed. "Look, I know you want to meet our prime suspect with me—" Tsuki meowed very loudly. ", but I can't take you to To-oh to take an exam regardless of how much smarter you are than most of the exam takers." Watari sighed. "I can easily find a hoodie with a calico print. He'll blend in well enough." L's eye twitched. "Watari, why are you siding with the ca—" Watari interrupted. "He hasn't seen the light of day for a week, give him that privilege."

Tsuki meowed victoriously. "Fine." L caved in, and with an hour left to get this calico hoodie, they would go to take the To-oh entrance exams together.

* * *

L walked in calmly, ignoring the stares he got for his over sized hoodie and general loose "druggie" appearance. Tsuki bristled in his hood. It was a bit uncomfortable, but he was small enough to fit and it was better than the pockets.

L sat down in his usual crouch, causing the tester to walk up and say, "Number 162, sit properly." Tsuki sighed in the hood, and waited for him to walk away. He slowly peaked up out of the hood. L didn't notice.

He met eyes with… Light. However, Light was fixated on L's gaze. A few seconds later, he noticed the cat peeking out from L's hood, like a shadow. His eyes widened in confusion. Tsuki laughed to himself in his mind. As if L could get any odder, walking in and crouching, and staring at Light like that… only for a cat to pop up out of his hoodie.

Ryuk saw, and was mirthfully laughing. He flew over to L and peeked at Tsuki. "Hey, Rai—ah. You must have another name now. Hyuk, Hyuk, Hyuk…" Tsuki paid no mind to the Shinigami. He stared head on at Light, who only got more thrown off when Ryuk flew off towards him. Light stared back, and L quickly noticed that it wasn't directed towards him anymore. He put a hand behind him, as if matting his hair down, but he was actually pushing Tsuki back in.

Tsuki bit down a meow, and could only wait for L to finish.

* * *

"Ryuk, is there something you're not telling me?" Light asked calmly when he got home. "No, Raito. I'm pretty sure I told you everything... I think." Ryuk replied, smiling as always. Light locked the door behind him. "Are you sure, Ryuk?" He asked again. "Are you positive?"

"Well, when you put it like that, I start getting a bit freaked, ya' know…" Ryuk muttered. Light turned to face him, glaring like he would kill him then and there. "Ryuk, can animals see you?" Ryuk paused for a bit. He knew where this was going. "Uh, yeah. I guess it's reasonable when you think about it." Light raised a brow. "Animals have always been more, er, in tune with their surroundings. They're more natural."

Light folded his arms. "Well, we're kind a' man-made things, Shinigamis. We need names to kill, and animals don't have that. People think it's ghosts that their pets see… it's usually a Death God if anything."

"…so?"

"Well, it makes sense if you think about it. Sort of." Ryuk shrugged. Light seemed intrigued by this new piece of information. "So, it's _usually_ a Death God that animals see. What else can animals see, in that case?" Light inquired. "Stuff. Dead people." Ryuk answered vaguely. "I don't know, Raito, I'm not an animal." Light scoffed. With his brain, he might as well be. "Can animals understand what you're saying?" Ryuk scratched his neck. "Well, yeah, if you bother to learn their language." Light looked rather shocked by this. "You can learn their languages?"

"Yeah, sure you can."

Light didn't know what to think of that one. He sat down in his chair. "So, what were you speaking about with that cat earlier?" Light felt silly saying that sentence. To be speaking with a cat… It sounded very strange, but apparently possible. "Oh, the cat? It was sort of a one-sided conversation but I was just laughing and asking how he was."

Light buried his face in his hands. He could hardly handle a killer notebook at first, to know that he could ask every bird how they were doing before he ate them was far too disturbing. "So… do you know that cat or something?" Light asked. "Oh, I was buddies with it for a day when it was a stray, and it got me some apples. Seems it's been adopted now though." Ryuk was laughing, which was always a bad sign.

"It got you some apples?" Light looked at Ryuk very peculiarly before turning away. "Yep. Some Fuji apples. They're good." Light sighed, and swallowed himself up in studies and murder.

_Hyuk, Hyuk, Hyuk…_

* * *

The results were a tie, essentially. L had gotten the highest score along with Light Yagami. Tsuki looked as though this was exactly as he had expected things to go, except he always looked like that, so it didn't really matter anyway. Watari congratulated him with cake, even though it was obvious that L would get the best exam marks.

"Well. I hope you're pleased, Tsuki. You're lucky Mister Light didn't rat us out when he saw you." Tsuki blinked at him and flicked his tail. He meowed, pompous as ever. L sighed, but pet him resignedly. "You are a very lucky cat, Tsuki." Tsuki knew this fact well—cat or human, he was very lucky indeed.

"I hope you don't expect me to take you to entrance ceremony." Tsuki looked as if he expected nothing less. L sighed. "You are quite a stubborn cat… as stubborn as I am. Which can be a bad thing." Tsuki meowed very loudly, as if whining.

"I'm sure Mister Light will appreciate seeing you again, Tsuki."

* * *

**Author's Note**: I'm over excited. This is what you've been waiting for, guys. And FYI, whenever L speaks with Tsuki alone or with just Watari, he speaks in English. It's rather cute in my head.


	6. Game

**Author's Note**: The thing is, I have a writer's block when the plot is going slow and uninterestingly to me. I struggle with writing things out and getting the right mood at those times. But now that I'm finally getting things kicking, I'm updating again within 4 days. I just get too excited.

Oh, and Tsuki mentally curses in this chapter. Not a big shtick, though, cause we get to talk about masturbation too. Only talk about it though. Not like, _doing_ it. Just talking. :D

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"Are you alright back there?" L asked as Tsuki crawled around in the hood of his hoodie. Tsuki gave a tentative meow and finally settled back in. L reached his hand out and gave Tsuki a slight pat on the head before getting into his limo. "Please try not to ruin my moment when I introduce myself, Tsuki." Tsuki gave what sounded a bit like a chuckle, or a snort. Watari peeked out to them. "Are you ready to go, Ryuzaki?" He asked. L gave a nod, and they drove off to To-oh's entrance ceremony.

* * *

Light would have never dreamed that the cat-hoarding drug addict would get the same test scores as he did. But apparently, dreams were becoming reality, because here they both were, walking up the steps to give the new To-oh students their Freshman Address. As they reached the podium, Light heard whispers and mumblings comparing him to this 'Hideki Ryuga'.

Ryuga started his speech, and only a few seconds went by until Light noticed that he had smuggled in his cat _again_. To get away with it once was luck—Twice? Who the hell did he think he was? The cat took a peek at Light, and Ryuk was laughing too hard for Light to hear anything. The cat's eyes were a horrible red, like a Shinigami's. Light could only take a glance before the crowd clapped and he had to give his speech.

The audience was still murmuring about them; what they were saying, Light wouldn't know. He could feel Ryuga's rather intense stare burning a hole into his back, and the cat was probably looking too. Ryuk started saying strange things to presumably the cat, because Light could only interpret his guttural rasps as some form of cat language. Light finished his speech, and the crowd applauded once more.

As they started walking, Ryuga began to speak to him.

"Yagami-kun." Light paused and glanced back. Ryuga continued.

"You're the son of detective-superintendent Soichiro Yagami of the NPA. Your respect for your father is matched only by your deep sense of justice." Light furrowed his brows. "You aim to reach a position of leadership in the NPA yourself, and have in the past provided insight that has led to the solution of several cases." Light slowed, unbelieving.

"… and now?" Ryuga paused for dramatic effects. "You are showing a great deal of interest in the Kira case."

Ryuga continued, with unrelenting use of the element of surprise. "So if you will swear to me that you will tell absolutely no one, I shall place my faith in your abilities and sense of justice… and tell you something of vital importance regarding the Kira case." Light had stopped on the steps altogether, and was waiting with baited breath. The room echoed with conversations as the two top students were long forgotten, but Light's mind was silent in contemplation.

He closed his eyes, unprepared. "I won't tell anyone." He briefly wondered what could be so interesting that this man felt such a need to approach him this way. Light was about to find out. "What is it?"

"I am L."

_What?_

Whatever words Light had to say before died on his lips. He stumbled a bit on the last step, but caught himself. This man was L. He turned around to face him, finding L's gaze penetrating, as though it was seeping through his skin and into his veins.

_Shit_, he thought, _I need to get my act together now._

He held out his hand, calming it's shaking.

"Well… if you're truly L, you have my full respect and admiration." Light said, taking even breaths. They shook hands, and Light felt as though L could sense the blood of all the criminals Light had ever killed with his pen. They sat down. For a few seconds, Light's world was silent.

He collected his thoughts.

"I didn't know L liked cats." Light had nothing better to say. L perked up, and turned to face him again. "Oh, I don't like cats. Or any other animals at all, really." The cat had curled itself around L's neck, still effectively hidden to those who weren't paying attention. "Really? The one coiled in your hoodie says otherwise." L gave the cat a pat on the head, and continued. "Oh, him? He's the only cat I'm willing to tolerate." The cat's tail swayed, pleased. Ryuk laughed so hard his sides hurt.

"…Right." Light felt like he was imagining things. "Does he have a name?" L gave a small devious smirk. "Oh yes, of course. His name is Tsuki."

"Wow, what a coincidence," Light said with no enthusiasm at all. "My name in kanji is Tsuki." L faced him with a deadpan look, and the cat blinked at him.

"I know." L replied. Light was a bit startled. Ryuk was laughing even harder now; it sounded like he was choking. _I hope you choke on an apple, you ass_… "…" Light sat in silence once more.

The conversation ended with those last two words. The rest of the ceremony went with L staring at him with piercing eyes, and even worse, the cat staring at him as though Light was his personal failure.

* * *

"Was the Entrance Ceremony successful, Ryuzaki?" Watari asked as they drove back. L was curled in his usual position, with Tsuki at his side. "Yes, it was, Watari. It was very successful." Watari smiled in the rearview mirror. "In fact… I think Kira would be quite frustrated right now." It chilled Tsuki to think that L was so certain of him being Kira. Tsuki vaguely remembered when they used to talk together in the café near To-oh—L had said it was only a 3% chance. But L was one hell of a liar. It sounded more like a 90% chance, if anything.

They got back to their current hotel, and L resigned to eating his well-deserved cake in peace.

* * *

After the third ring, Light answered. "Hello? Ryuga?" L held up the phone gingerly to his ear. "Hello, Yagami-kun." Tsuki leaned in, perched on L's shoulder. "What's up, Ryuga?" L smiled a bit. "Would you like to play some tennis?" L, straightforward as ever. "Oh, uh, sure. When?" L smiled even more. "Today." There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Today? Like… _now_?" Light's disbelief could be heard through the phone line. "Yes, Yagami-kun. Today." Tsuki sighed, his tail flicking against L's back. "Well, aren't you great at planning things…" Light muttered.

"So, when do you want to meet?" Light asked, resigned.

"Preferably half an hour."

"Absolutely not." Light immediately answered. "I have to take a shower, brush my teeth, get dressed… Half an hour isn't nearly enough time." Tsuki knew the routine well. Wash the face, then body, and then shampoo and condition his hair… after that, he'd dry off, brush his teeth, blow-dry his hair, give it an equal amount of brushing on both sides just to get the layering right… Then he'd get dressed.

Light was about to repeat the routine Tsuki had just thought in his head, but L interrupted—"I know, I know."

Light paused.

"…How do you know?" Even through the phone, Tsuki could feel his own eyes narrowing.

"I installed hidden cameras in your bathroom." Tsuki nearly choked; Light did as well.

"_What_?!" Light yelled. Tsuki didn't ever remember L telling him about cameras in the bathroom. He thought that L had enough decency to keep those 64 cameras in his bedroom. Well, if L put cameras in his bedroom, he supposed, why stop there? "Are you joking with me, Ryuga?" Light asked dangerously. "Nope. So, tennis in, maybe 45 minutes, then? That's generally how long it takes for you to shower. I'll pick you up, alright?"

"…"

"I'll take that as a yes." L smiled. Tsuki glared at him. It may have been in the past for him, but Tsuki still felt violated. "Wait. Hold on. Ryuga, I need to _talk_ to you." Light said. "What is it, Yagami-kun?" L asked politely. "Isn't hidden surveillance cameras a violation of my _rights_?" L paused, clearly having fun.

"I find it very interesting, Yagami-kun."

"…what is?"

"From what I observed, you had hidden several porno magazines in your room, which seemed to be very normal for a 17 year old." L drawled out his words a bit. Tsuki glanced up, curious. "However, your act was very easy to see through…" Light said nothing in reply. "Because you never masturbated to them. In fact, I've never even seen you sport an erection—in the shower or not." Tsuki stared at L as if he had grown a third head. _Are you fucking kidding me… that's what gave me away?_

"Yagami-kun, I'm very curious, from the moment you were born, was there actually a point where you've been _horny_ befo—"

Light hung up.

Tsuki wondered how his sudden appearance in the past could create so many interesting conversations.

* * *

"Are you ready, Yagami-kun?" L called from outside Light's bedroom. Tsuki flicked his tail as Sayu cooed and pet him. He hadn't realized it, but he did miss his sister. Tsuki sat down at L's feet, waiting for his human counterpart to get over himself and play some tennis. Light said nothing, but clearly Ryuk had heard his conversation on the phone with L, because even through the door, Tsuki could hear him, and Ryuk sounded like he was going to piss himself laughing.

Was that all that Ryuk did? Did he just laugh all the time?

No, sometimes he whined for apples.

"Yagami-kun, we should get going soon! The school courts do tend to get hogged by other students. We'll be late as well." Sayu smiled and said, "Oh, don't mind Light. He takes _forever_ to get ready. I swear, he acts like the typical girl when it comes to these kinds of things." Tsuki twitched a bit, but resolved to just jumping back into L's hood.

L's phone received a text.

_Ryuga, from the moment you were born, was there actually a point where you've been horny before?_

"Hm." Tsuki peeked out from the hood, and curled around L's shoulders. He stared at the text in bewilderment. He sure as hell never texted _that_ to L before. L held a thumb to his lips, as if actually considering the question before replying. In all honesty, it wouldn't have surprised Tsuki if L said no. Though Light undoubtedly was just pissed off and exercising his rights to sarcasm. Tsuki remembered that he liked to play little games like this will L when he got annoyed.

_In fact, I have, Yagami-kun._

Tsuki blinked a bit. Was L being serious? Probably not, with the way he was currently smiling.

_Oh really? Would you bother to enlighten me, or would your suspicions rise if I asked you?_

Tsuki could taste the sarcasm in that text. He rolled his eyes. This definitely wasn't a conversation he ever remembered having with L. He didn't know if he wanted to hear about the times when L got horny. Why did he have to go ask L that? Oh dear, L looked like he was actually contemplating the times when he supposedly got horny.

_There's only been one significant time, though._

Tsuki buried his head in his paws. Damn it.

_Really, Ryuga? Please do tell. It sure isn't like I have surveillance cameras to see if you are feeling particularly horny. _

Maybe it was out of his sheer experience with these games with L, but Tsuki knew that this wouldn't go well. L also knew as well, for he was grinning as mischievously as possible. Tsuki sighed, or as much as he could when he was a cat. God, he hated being a cat sometimes.

_If you must know, I was very horny after seeing you for the first time._

Tsuki raised a paw and smacked L across his face. His shit-eating grin only grew wider.

_I'm serious, Yagami-kun. I masturbated all night to your picture._

Tsuki began to meow very loudly. On the other side of the door, they could hear a phone clattering to the ground. L's smile was positively wicked.

A few seconds later, Light walked out with a tennis racket and a bag. Ryuk followed after him, crying with laughter. Throughout the whole trip, Light couldn't even look L in the eye.

* * *

"Are you ready, Yagami-kun?" L took his place at one side of the court, with Light at the other. "Let's… Let's just get this over with. Please." Light had his brows furrowed in concentration, but he still couldn't stare directly at L. L served.

The ball hit straight passed Light and ricocheted off of the fence behind him. Light's eyes widened a bit. "Jeez, Ryuga… ever heard of a warm up?" L glanced back at him, unabashed. "He who strikes first always wins." L replied. "…Right." Light muttered under his breath. "Fifteen-Love." L stated. Light rolled his eyes, and prepared himself.

Tsuki wandered off, with Ryuk trailing behind. "How ya' doing, Light?" Tsuki looked up at him before calmly replying. "My name is Tsuki now." Ryuk cackled a bit. "I heard. So, how's it going with L?" He laughed some more, finding the situation all too hilarious. "It's fine. I don't know how I'm going to go about catching myself, however." Ryuk peered down at him. From this height, Ryuk looked like a giant monster. Though many things did when you were such a small cat. "Oh really? Light doesn't have a plan yet? That's a surprise…" Ryuk trailed off.

"I'm probably going to have to get to the Death Note somehow after my 'past-me' loses his memories, and before Higuchi gets caught. I'll have to destroy it in some way." A crowd was gathering to watch L and Light play. Soon enough, there was even a referee keeping score. Tsuki hid himself better within L's hoodie and Light's bag. "Say, Ryuk."

"Yeah?" Tsuki paused a bit. "What would happen if I mess up and L finds out I'm Kira? What if he kills the past-me?" Ryuk blinked. "I mean, what would happen to me now? Would I fade away? Would I cease to exist?" Ryuk looked at him peculiarly. "Better yet, Ryuk, what would happen if past-me doesn't die? Do I cease to exist and return to his body? Or do I just continue on my existence as a cat?"

Ryuk sighed. Tsuki was speaking far too fast. "Well, even if you had different bodies, you're still the same being. Depending on how your past unravels, I'd guess it affect the future you too. So if past-you dies, I guess future-you dies too. And if past-you lives after the whole Kira business, I'd guess you'd become past you. Or something." Ryuk paused in contemplation and shrugged. "The Shinigami King doesn't do this kind of stuff all the time, you know. I don't know how it works."

"Right… just another fact you could have told me earlier…" Tsuki grumbled. Ryuk cackled at him. "Well, Light, it seems your new appearance in the past is making some strange conversations happen." Tsuki hid his face in shame. "I really don't want to talk about it. Though I do feel the need to ask, Ryuk. Could my simple presence change the way people talk to each other, or act around each other?" Ryuk grinned vaguely. "I don't know, Light. Why don't you try and find out?"

"Just… fuck off, Ryuk." Tsuki swore he would one day destroy every apple on the planet.

* * *

**Author's Note**: So I suppose subjects like Light's nonexistent erection should change the rating of this fic to mature. I have so much trouble writing this, because sometimes I'm extremely serious, and sometimes I just go, "Fuck everything." And make it into a crack fic.

I love imagining Tsuki bitch slap L with his paws. I might write that out on a later date. Oh, and there are a lot of time skips. The time skips are only a few days or a week, so it's not like you're missing something big.


	7. Illiterate

**Author's Note**: Here, have a fun fact. So I'm a bit of a paranoid parrot, and I write every chapter of a whole story on one consistent document. And then I erase that chapter once I'm done and I've posted it on this site. I do this for all the stories I write. Each document has a name that sort of consists with a scene/theme in the whole story… for A Cats Nine Lives, the name of the document is "Nothingness".

* * *

**Chapter 6**

L would not trust Light to be able to look him in the eye and say, "I am hiding absolutely nothing."

In truth, Light was such a good liar that this would probably be exactly what he does, down to the doe-eyed teenager expression that came with it. Light wouldn't even phrase it like that, because that was far too straight-forward and L-like anyway. Maybe he would say, "Trust me, Ryuga-san," with a bright smile on his face, and that would be the same thing as pasting a big sign on his forehead that said "I am hiding absolutely nothing."

They settled down in their seats in the café. "This is one of my favorite coffee shops," Light stated matter-of-factly. "If you sit here in the back, no one can hear what you're talking about." L blinked at him with wide eyes. "You've picked the perfect place for this, then." Tsuki curled around his neck, like a snake.

"Yeah, for one thing, back here no one's going to be staring at you for sitting like that." Light chuckled. Tsuki had half a mind to spit in his face— if only Light knew what was going to happen here. He looked at this young replica of himself, irritated beyond belief by his _own_ god damned mistakes. L gave some bullshit excuse about having to sit in a crouch or else his reasoning abilities went down 40%. Tsuki didn't believe that lie anymore. Did he ever?

"So, Yagami-kun, what did you want to ask me?" Light gave him an innocent smile. "That can wait until you are certain I am not Kira. So, go ahead, Ryuga." Tsuki wanted to run away. Ryuk was already laughing again, and Light could not fathom why.

"In that case… I don't mean to be rude," Tsuki scoffed. "But can I test your reasoning abilities?" Light blinked, but then returned to smiling. "Sure. Sounds fun." L took another sip of his tea, and Tsuki reveled in the calm silence.

"Does the fact that I've told you I'm L tell you anything?"

"Let's see…" Light made a pause, as if he hadn't already thought this over 100 times within one night before meeting L again. "Well, it indicates that you have some hopes that I'll help you solve this case…" Light looked up at L, "and…"

"That you've deduced that even if you tell someone who may be Kira that you're L, you won't be killed… Or that you've taken some steps to ensure you can't be killed." Light continued on, eyes closed in false deliberation. "And that means… though the news reports have said that Kira only needs a face to kill, he may need something other than that…" Light finished. "In which case that something else would be a name." L held a thumb to his lips. "Correct."

"You're saying I'm right? Just like that?" L's head tilted to the side, and Tsuki shifted uncomfortably. "Why should I hide the fact that you are right?" Light almost looked a bit annoyed, as though he were expecting something else. He carried on. "Well, the probability that you're truly L is rather low." Light took a sip of his coffee. "Why's that?" Light paused again.

"I suppose that if I were L, I would figure it's enough to have a double approach a suspect and tell them that he is L. The real L needs to stay someplace safe at all times—even when he's using the police, he has to stay in the shadows, out of view." Yet here L was, out in the open.

Tsuki watched the verbal exchange, hardly amused. If anything, he was just tired. He closed his eyes, trying to sleep through life. "Still, I think you might actually be L, Ryuga." L looked at Light curiously. "Meaning?" Light took another sip of his coffee, in silent contemplation.

"You're just too out of character. Most people would expect someone a lot older than you, or more detective-like, to be L, no offense." Light flashed a brief smile for the nonexistent camera. "You're just too unbelievable to be faking it, so you must be real." L shifted in his seat, mind whirring with thoughts. "And what are the odds that L took that into account when choosing me?"

"Well… since it's L we're talking about, there's a good chance that he did that." Light laughed a bit. "But when you start second-guessing and third-guessing like this, it never ends. I have to admit, I'm getting a tad confused!" Tsuki buried himself away somewhere in L's collarbone. He would never be able to sleep through life if Ryuk kept insisting on laughing so much. Why did Ryuk's laugh have to sound so strange and gnarly?

L soon pulled out some papers out of his pocket. "This is the list of the 12 FBI agents who were killed in Japan, in the order they received the file and the order they died in… and these three photographs show notes written by prisoners shortly before they die. We believe they wrote them under Kira's influence." Light's eyes narrowed. It was another trap.

Light gave a long tentative glance at all the names of the FBI agents, before perking up again. This was just too easy. "Ryuga… what's this file you say they received? I can't make any sense of this list if I don't know that." Tsuki gave a small sigh, which tickled L a little bit.

"Oh, right. Of course." L muttered, rubbing the side of his head. "The file contains the names and photos of all the FBI agents. The day they received said file, they all died." Light mulled over this 'new' information, giving a show of pausing and holding a hand to his chin. "In that case… Kira needs a name and a face… and when the agents got this file with their names and photos, they died the same day. It seems that Kira used this file to kill the agents."

L stared hard at him, and Tsuki was still busying himself by trying to take a short nap. L gave Light the three notes. "All right then. What about these messages from the prisoners?" Light glanced at them, and instantly noticed the numbers on the back. He mentally chuckled. _L, do you know Gods of Death love apples? _He looked back up to L. "If you take the first word of every sentence, it forms the sentence, 'L, do you know Gods of Death love apples?'"

Light didn't know L well enough to recognize his victorious face, but Ryuk and Tsuki did. "But… the numbers on the backs of these photos would give the sentence a different order. It would become, 'L, do you know love apples? Gods of Death'. However, I doubt that's how Kira intended it to be read." Tsuki cursed in his mind.

"Incorrect."

Light had a small look of surprise. L fumbled around, looking in his back pocket for what Tsuki knew to be the _bullshit_ fourth note. "In fact, there's a fourth note." L pulled out another photograph, and put it alongside the others. "When you add it, the message becomes, 'L, do you know love apples? Gods of Death have red hands.'" Even then, the sentence didn't make sense.

"L, do you know love apples? Ryuga, that doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe Kira's illiterate." Tsuki turned to L, appalled. He resisted the urge to smack L across the face, and Light seemed to be struggling against the same impulse. Ryuk simultaneously died on the spot.

"…Ok, Ryuga." Light was not as good of an actor as he prided himself to be. He took a sip of his coffee calmly, and looked straight at L. "Either ways, if there were only three notes, my reasoning was flawless." L bluntly rebutted him. "No, it wasn't. There were four notes. Figuring that out would have made your reasoning flawless. I think I'm correct in deducing that you decided there were only three notes, Yagami-kun."

Light glared at him, gripping his cup so strongly he was sure it would break. Tsuki bristled around L's neck, severely annoyed. _That's right, L was trying to make him reveal information only Kira would know… _Light laughed, but it only served to make him sound angrier. "Gee, you're right… I suppose I didn't think of that." L held a thumb to his lips, pensive. Tsuki briefly wondered if the percentage was at 95% yet. "Anyways, I doubt this message will help you find Kira. I mean, Shinigamis don't even exist!"

Light took another sip, and L spoke again. "Alright, let's suppose you're L." Light raised a brow. "If you came face to face with someone who might be Kira, how would you determine that he was?" _Judge him to see how 'illiterate' he was?_ Light smirked behind his coffee cup. "I'd try to make them say things only Kira would know. Just like _you_ are, Ryuga."

"Very good."

Tsuki sighed. There were far more pressing issues coming up. L continued. "I've asked many other detectives the same question, but they all gave ineffective answers. You are the only one to think in the perspective of Kira talking to an investigator." L gave an undetectable smile. "You are quite brilliant, Yagami-kun."

Light chuckled. "You make it sound like the better I do, the more suspicious I am." L stared at him. "Indeed… now it's up by 3%." Tsuki rolled his eyes. _I think you said 30% wrong, L. _"However, now, I want you to join the investigation even more." Light narrowed his eyes, considering how much time he would be wasting if this man truly was not L. He finished his coffee.

"I think you've got me all wrong, Ryuga."

L blinked, turning his head to the side again. "While I'm very interested in the Kira case, and I would love to help in solving it… I'm not Kira, and I sure as hell don't want to be killed." Light put his cup down. "I don't want to help someone I can't even trust—I'd rather just mull over the case on my own. Who's to say you aren't Kira? When you think about it from my perspective, you'd see we're in the same position… neither of us can prove that we aren't Kira."

Light continued. "I'm talking about having someone I trust to confirm for me that you are L, and if you say you can't do that until you're sure I'm not Kira, I just can't take up this case." _Boy, Light Yagami likes to talk a lot… _L stared, interrupting when Light seemed to be done. "I never once said you wouldn't be able to meet anyone to confirm my status as L. In fact, I am working directly with your father and the task force right now."

Light stared at him in shock, unable to understand what was going through L's head. "Am I correct in assuming that you will be able to work if I bring you to the task force?"

Tsuki closed his eyes as L's phone began to ring. Ryuk piped up once more, chuckling. "Excuse me, I have to take this." L pulled out his phone in his usual manner and flipped open the screen. "What's the matter?" L asked. Light's phone began to ring as L nearly dropped his. "Oh, my phone is ringing too…"

"Yagami-kun… your father…" Light's eyes widened. "Had a heart attack." Light finished.

"_Kira?!_"

* * *

"Father… are you sure the heart attack was caused by just over work?" Light looked at him apprehensively. He knew that logically, he was Kira and he did not write down his own father's name, but it was still rather coincidental. The chief looked at his son and smiled. "To be honest, that's exactly what crossed my mind when I was going down." Light's mother looked sternly at both of them, worried.

"A murder attempt by Kira… we can't rule that out. Considering the fact that you are the chief and you are leading an investigation against him, he'd have the motive to kill you." L did not take note of Sachiko's sudden fear. The chief looked to his wife. "Sachiko, you go home. Light is here and I'm fine anyways." She looked back at him. "Alright…" She picked up her bags. "And don't say a word to Sayu. We don't want her to worry."

She looked back. "I'll be back tomorrow with more of your things. Light, thank you for coming…" She gave a weak smile and left. The door shut, and Soichiro continued. "I don't think it was Kira… honestly, I hadn't even had a good night's sleep in months. I suppose I was setting myself up for it." He smiled to himself, chuckling at the irony of the situation. "Having your son under suspicion must also be an emotional strain as well." L added. Light glared at him. "You told my father that I'm under suspicion?" Tsuki didn't even bother to try looking surprised. L would be doing worse things in the future anyways. "Yes." L said curtly. "I told Yagami-san everything,", L continued. "Including the fact that I am L." Light looked at his father to confirm this. He nodded back.

"Well, telling me that I'm under suspicion is one thing, but saying that to my father in his condition is rather _inconsiderate_…"

Tsuki crawled away from L as L and Light began a small argument over suspicions and percentages. Tsuki hopped onto the hospital bed, unnoticed by anyone other than the chief himself. "Hello… it's nice to see you again, cat." The chief smiled at him. Tsuki blinked back, calm. Looking at his father like this reminded him of the time when his father died, looking much older and more weary. He sat down, tail swaying. Tsuki had read once that hospitals kept cats to cheer up dying patients, or seniors.

When he remembered this, he looked upon the chief in sorrow as a comforting hand was raised to pet him. Tsuki kept his eyes closed. L and Light had finally stopped arguing about something about 7% and whatnot. "What's the cat doing?" Light asked.

Tsuki looked back at his human self. He couldn't help but grow angry. L suddenly perked up. "Oh, Yagami-san, I forgot to tell you." The chief looked back up to L, curious. "What is it, Ryuzaki?" L pointed to Tsuki. "The cat has a name now."

"Really? What is it?" L smiled unnoticeably. "He's Tsuki now." The chief furrowed his brows, similarly to the first time that Light heard Tsuki's name. "Oh, really? …That's funny. My son's name in kanji is Tsuki as well."

"Indeed it is." L answered.

* * *

**Author's Note**: I also want to take time to thank some people who give long, long, reviews/review every single chapter that I write (You dearies know who you are) seriously, you guys are so sweet when you do that. I love it. By the way, I'm sorry for the huge dialogue and the general filler. I'm trying to make plot progress without ruining the timeline, and I almost want to fall asleep just reading my own work.

Everyone— according to L, Kira is illiterate.


End file.
